Dance like nobody's watching
by stanaticfanatic
Summary: When she was alone, Kate Beckett liked to dance around in her underwear..but this time she wasn't in her own apartment - and then she realised she wasn't alone. Fluffy one-shot, fill for a tumblr prompt, rated T to be safe.


**A/N: I should be writing an epilogue for another story, as well as more chapters for another two but this happened..**

**Set pre-Caskett, probably season 3 or 4.**

* * *

"You can still come with us, you know," Castle reminded her for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour. Damn considerate man, always worrying about other people.

"Yes, Castle, I know," Beckett replied patiently. "So you have mentioned ten billion times but I cant, I have to work."

"Call in sick?" He suggested hopefully. "I feel bad leaving you here all alone.."

"I'll be fine, I have a gun, remember?" She laughed. "And besides, you shouldn't feel bad, if it wasn't for you I'd be staying with my dad on the other side of the city with a ridiculously long commute to work every morning. You've done me a huge favour by letting me stay here."

"You're welcome anytime, Beckett, you know that. Now, are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"She'll be fine, dad," Alexis called, walking into the room. "And as much as I would have liked her to come with us too, not everyone can work from home whenever they like and take weekends off to drive up to their Hampton's home. So come on, stop pestering Detective Beckett and let's go..goodness, I bet she'll be glad of the peace the way you go on!"

It was something Kate admired about Alexis – which ultimately led to admiration of her father; she wasn't one of those wealthy kids who thought she was better than anyone else. She knew she was lucky to have a dad who could be home with her when she needed him, and take weekends off to have a family getaway and Beckett knew that was something Caste had instilled in her from an early age, he was a brilliant father.

"Right, well if you're sure.." Castle asked one more time.

Alexis shouted "Dad!" at the same time Kate shouted "Castle!" eliciting laughs from both females.

"Alright, alright, we're going," Castle grumbled. "We need to get there before your grandmother and her _companion _anyway, goodness knows what they'll get up to if I'm not there to disapprove."

"Ew, dad," Alexis said, wrinkling her nose. "But let's go." The girl grabbed her bag and headed to the door. "Bye, Detective Beckett, you'll have to come with us next time!"

"I'd love to, Alexis," she smiled. "Now go, Castle, go stop your mother doing whatever it is you don't want her doing."

"Call me if there's any problems, there's plenty of food in the fridge – help yourself to whatever. Eduardo is on the door if you need him and-"

"Castle," Beckett interrupted. "You're going away for two days – you'll be back on Sunday afternoon, I think I can cope!"

"I know I just..wish you could come too.." He didn't like to think of her in his loft all alone, and he was outright avoiding thoughts of the fact that she was going to be sleeping in his bed. Without him. The past few months had shown that there were feelings there, from both of them and he just wished he had the courage to act upon them without the fear of her running ten miles in the opposite direction.

"Me too, Castle," she smiled shyly. "But your daughter has already invited me for next time so we can organise a trip on a weekend I'm not working, okay?" With the promise of her agreeing to come along next time, Castle uttered one last goodbye before following his daughter out of the door, leaving Beckett alone.

It was getting late, so Beckett ran herself a bath and poured a large glass of red wine and sunk into the bubbles. It was eerily quiet in the apartment with no one else in it – whenever she'd been here before, she had always been joined by Castle or his mother and daughter.

She was extremely grateful to him for allowing her to stay though; after arriving home from work on Wednesday evening, she had been pretty annoyed to find her whole apartment block closed off due to her next door neighbour's water pipe bursting, flooding his whole apartment and water seeping into hers, as well as others on the floor. Nothing in her apartment had been damaged, the water had only just started seeping through and she could pick everything up and get it out of the way, but it had been another two hours until they managed to get the water cut off – when they'd found a problem with the pipe and needed a part to fix it that they couldn't get until Monday, meaning Beckett was homeless until Tuesday.

She had been about to call her dad and see if she could stay with him for a few days when Castle had called to ask if he'd left his sunglasses in her car – he had – and he had picked up on her frustrated tone, asking what was up. She had explained what was going on and he'd immediately offered her a place to stay until she could go back home. She had been hesitant at first, but Castle had insisted and in reality, it did make much more sense than staying with her father, so she had agreed, packing a bag of fresh clothes and driving straight over.

That was Wednesday and today was Friday, and here she was, soaking in Castle's ridiculously oversized tub, drinking a glass of ridiculously expensive wine and thinking she could seriously get used to living like this.

She had actually wanted to go to the Hamptons with them when he had invited her, but she was working this weekend, well, on Saturday and if no bodies dropped, she was thinking about driving out there to surprise them on Sunday morning.

Castle had remained respectful, giving her the luxurious guest room next to Alexis' bedroom and giving Beckett her space, never once making some stupid comment about her sharing his bed or joining him in the shower. The whole family had been brilliant actually, and despite only being here for two days she already felt at home. Alexis had offered to help with dinner last night, the two of them making Castle sit down with a glass of wine and watch as they cooked and made a complete mess of his kitchen – they had cleaned up afterwards though, once again stopping Castle from helping.

It was lovely, the way they happily welcomed her into their home and once again she was reminded of how different Rick Castle, the author was, compared to Richard Castle, the family man.

* * *

Beckett awoke early the next morning, feeling thoroughly invigorated after a night spent on Castle's heavenly mattress – she made a mental note to ask him what kind of mattress it was so she could get one for herself.

Jumping out of bed, she padded into the bathroom for a quick shower before pulling on her bra and panties and heading out into the kitchen to begin making coffee with Castle's incredibly awesome coffee machine. Seriously, the man had everything you could possibly want. She spotted a digital radio in the corner, flicking the switch to turn it on and fill the silence of the apartment with some noise. It was pre-set on a country station when it came to life and she laughed at the thought of Castle humming along to a song about a cowboy who'd lost his girl – not something she would have pegged him for.

Nevertheless, she didn't change it, the kitchen filled with the slow melody of a band singing about dropping someone off just a little after midnight. Heading back to the coffee machine, still in just her underwear, Beckett poured a mug and listened to the music. The lyrics reminded her of her relationship with Castle a bit, more specifically the time in LA where she'd gone to bed and then reopened her door only to find him gone.

Maybe what she'd said to Castle was truer than she'd thought – the songs really did make sense when you were in love.

She was snapped out of her reverie by a more upbeat song coming on, two women singing about something bad. Grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl she danced around the kitchen to the song, snacking on her banana and sipping her coffee in between.

It was just something she did, most mornings she put some music on and danced around in her underwear while she got ready for work..made her loosen up and relax a bit. She often did it after work too, before bed, relaxing after a stressful day.

Glancing at the clock on the microwave, she realised she didn't have time to dance around in her underwear anymore; she had to get to work. Turning the radio off, she dashed into the bedroom to pull on some clothes and put some make up on, pulling her hair into a messy bun at the back of her head. Slipping into her favourite boots, she retrieved her gun from Castle's safe and attached her badge to her trousers, picking up her cell and keys as she left the apartment. Castle had given her a spare key which she had attached to her own, just looking at it felt odd and she hadn't even had to use it yet, she wouldn't until she got home tonight. _Back to Castle's, _she mentally corrected herself. It wasn't her home.

It wasn't a very exciting day at the precinct; Castle wasn't missing out on much. Their suspect in their latest case had decided overnight that he wanted to confess, so they'd pulled him out of holding, taking him back to interrogation so he could change his statement. After that it had been paperwork for a few hours, but Beckett, Esposito and Ryan all cut out at 4pm, Gates cutting them some slack and giving them the rest of the weekend off, thank goodness.

Making the most of their early finishing time, the three of them called in on Lanie at the morgue, dragging her to Remy's for burgers. After their early dinner, Kate left, thinking of the books Castle had in his office that she could spend the rest of the evening reading, she might even reread one of his, she couldn't remember the last time she'd read Flowers for your Grave..

* * *

Closing the book three quarters of the way through, Kate grinned at the memories it caused. Flowers for you Grave had always been her favourite Castle book and it was still up there with the Nikki Heat ones. There was just something about it, not to mention it had been the book that had first brought her together with Castle – even if Marvin Fisk had been murdered first, in a way similar to a murder in Hell Hath No Fury – Flowers for your Grave had been the one that connected the dots.

She'd spent the majority of the evening wrapped up in the book, finishing off the bottle of wine she had opened last night. She was contemplating heading to bed, but she wasn't really tired yet, it had been a fairly easy day at work and she had tomorrow off to have a lie in anyway.

Her mind flashed back to earlier that morning, and how fun it had been having the whole of Castle's kitchen to dance around in – it was much bigger than hers and heaven only knew when she could do that again..

Stripping down to her underwear, she grabbed her glass of wine and switched the kitchen radio back on, turning the volume up full blast. Grinning as the music began; she untied her hair and shook it around her shoulders, the curls falling around her face. Taking a sip of wine, she began to sing along as she moved out into the living room to dance in the vast space she had to herself for the next 24 hours.

"_The best thing about being a woman, is the prerogative to have a little fun.."_

This was a classic, one of the songs she had loved when it first came out all those years ago. Spinning around as the chorus hit, she bounced around the living room, giggling and singing along, feeling free and inhibited, any worries she had washing away with each movement.

So caught up in the music and the lightness she felt at dancing around, she didn't even notice the front door open and close again, the owner of the apartment stood in the entryway in slight shock.

It was stupid, Castle knew that. Kate Beckett was a fully grown woman, one with a gun, at that – she didn't need to be babysat, she would have been fine in his loft alone for a couple of days. But his mother and daughter had noticed his distraction over dinner this evening and told him he should go, the two of them would stay until tomorrow and his mother's _friend_ could drop them off. After making sure they were certain, he had repacked his things and driven back to the city, excited to spend the day with Beckett tomorrow.

Heading up in the elevator, he heard music as he stepped out into the hallway and.._was that Shania Twain blasting from his apartment?_ Oh man, Beckett had turned the kitchen radio on – and he was pretty certain he'd left it on that country station he only listened to when he was alone.

Slipping his key into the lock, he stepped inside and dropped his bag, closing the door behind him. The music was so loud that she probably couldn't hear him and holy crap she was dancing. In her underwear. In his lounge. Oh god this was what dreams were made of..

Standing still in shock for a moment, Castle watched her with a grin appearing on his face. She looked so happy and carefree, her hair loose around her shoulders and swinging about as she moved. He tried to keep his eyes up but come on; this was Kate Beckett in her underwear – who wouldn't look? And he wasn't disappointed, the woman was_ gorgeous_, all curves in the right places, her stomach toned and flat. Her legs went on for miles and her shapely thighs made him groan out loud as he was flooded with images of her legs wrapped around his neck as he- _no, stop it_, he scolded himself.

Her bra and panties matched, simple black lace that looked so much better on her than it could on any Victoria's Secret model. He didn't know what to do, it wasn't going to be long before she realised he was here and getting caught watching her in her underwear wasn't top of his wish list, despite her near nakedness.

She still had her back to him, so he crept up behind her, still grinning as she sang along with the music. "Shania Twain? Really, Beckett?" He called into her ear when he was close enough behind her to be heard.

She squealed in shock when she heard him, spinning around and almost knocking into him. His hands reached out to steady her, unfortunately landing on her very bare waist. She stood there for a moment, shock horror evident on her face, before her senses came back and she ripped out of his grasp to dash to the kitchen and turn the radio off.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked.

"Er..this is my apartment.." He pointed out.

Oh, he had a point.. "but..but you're meant to be in the Hamptons!" She spluttered, still stood in front of him in nothing but her bra and panties.

"I came back early," he said, conveniently leaving out the part where he had left to come and see her. "And boy am I glad I did," he added with a grin

"Okay, so I like to dance around in my underwear when I'm alone," she huffed out. "And your place is so much bigger than mine that I though it would be fun..I never expected you to actually see me."

"Hey, do you hear me complaining?" He laughed. "trust me, this has to be the best thing I have ever got home to."

"Shut up, Castle," she muttered, a blush forming on her cheeks.

"You don't need to get embarrassed, Beckett," he said, taking a few steps towards her. They were close again now, just a step away from each other. "It's actually pretty damn adorable."

She glared at him for that and he filed it away for future reference – Kate Beckett didn't like to be called adorable. "Okay okay, you don't like adorable. How about..cute? Or..hot? Or..incredibly-"

"Okay, Castle," she interrupted before he went any further. "I get the point!" It seemed to suddenly hit her that she was still stood there in nothing but her underwear. "I should uh..probably go and put some clothes on.."

"Want some help?" He asked and she hit him on the arm before heading into his bedroom. He could have sworn she added an extra sway of her hips, knowing full well he'd be watching her ass as she walked away.

"Thought you'd be trying to take my clothes off, Castle, not put them back on," she called from the bedroom and he laughed. Dammit she was perfect. He literally could not remember ever getting home to a better sight in his life and it certainly wasn't one he was going to forget in a hurry.

"Wait until I tell the boys at the precinct that I found you dancing around my loft in your underwear," he teased with a grin as she came back out of his bedroom. Like he'd ever actually tell them, she knew he wouldn't.

"Yeah? Well wait until I tell them you listen to country music," she shot back.

"I..that was..I mean- Beckett, are you wearing my _shirt_?"

Ooops. She had worn it last night because it smelt like him and she'd picked it up when she went to put some clothes back on.. "I..yeah?"

"Oh boy that's hot," he mumbled, taking in her appearance. "I'm trying to decide if I prefer seeing you in your underwear or in my shirt.." he mused.

"What about in nothing at all?" She said lightly, heading back into the kitchen to turn the radio on again.

"I..you…what?"

Beckett grinned; making Richard Castle speechless was one of her favourite things to do. "You gonna dance with me?" She asked as music filled the room again. It was another upbeat song, this time about feeling 22.

"That depends, you gonna take my shirt off and dance in your underwear again?"

She studied him for a minute, her eyes meeting with his, full of mischief and a challenge. Without breaking eye contact, she tugged at the hem of his shirt and pulled it back over her head, struggling to contain her laugh at his slack-jawed expression. God he was easy.

"Happy now?" she asked, tossing the shirt onto the couch. "You gonna take yours off too?" she never expected him to, but he accepted, unbuttoning his shirt and taking it off, a smug grin appearing on his face when he saw her eyes widen in appreciation of his physique.

Watching her as she began to dance to the beat, he unzipped his jeans and pulled them off, along with his socks, leaving him in just his boxers. "Happy now?" He echoed her words, grinning at her as she bit her lip, eyes roaming his body in what looked suspiciously like awe.

"Ecstatic," she whispered huskily into his ear and he gulped, her voice dripping with arousal. _Was she turned on by all of this?! _"You gonna dance now?" She said, spinning her way around his body, dangerously close to touching him with her bare skin.

"No," he growled, stopping her movements and pulling her flush to his body. Her eyes widened in shock before flicking to his lips and back up again. He didn't waste another second, claiming her mouth with his own, tongue slipping past her lips when she gasped, meeting with her own as he explored her mouth.

His heart soared when she let out a low moan, returning the kiss with as much ferocity and passion. Tearing her lips away from his, she pulled back to look at him, the previous shock in her eyes replaced with pure lust.

"You still want to dance?" He asked cockily, a hint of a grin tugging at his lips.

She didn't answer, not with words, anyway. She simply took his hand and led him to his own bedroom, leaving the radio playing in the background, this time a song about the good times playing. Yeah, this was _definitely_ a good time..

* * *

**A/N: whew, that was fun! Virtual cupcakes to anyone who guesses the name and artist of all five songs I put in there – two are obvious, two others many of you may not know and the last could be one of two that I know of! I'm not sure Castle listening to country music is accurate but I like the thought of it.. I'm a bit of a review junkie, so let me know what you thought – along with your guesses for the songs!**


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